VIETNAM AIRLINES MULLS IPO

By Dino D'Amore
January 19, 2011 14:55

Pham Ngoc Minh, chief executive of Vietnam Airlines, has indicated the time might be right to launch an initial public offering. Despite economic woes in the country and without, the proposal is poised to take advantage of the buoyant Asian air travel market and analysts expect any IPO to do well.

Viet Air is well-regarded in the industry but its financials are murky at best, with no publicly available accounts. Nevertheless, the airline has announced that pre-tax profit doubled to 350bn dong ($17.9m) last year on revenues of 36,300bn dong. The CEO expects revenue to raise by 25% this year.